Haystack making machine

ABSTRACT

A haystack making machine utilizing a hay pickup and an elevating conveyor, a haystack forming compartment, and linear movable compression packing means for packing the hay; all mounted on a frame. After a haystack has been formed means are provided for removing the haystack from the hay forming compartment.

United States Patent [191 Quanbeck et al.

HAYSTACK MAKING MACHINE Inventors: Sherman H. Quanbeck, Aneta, N.

Dak. 58212; Harold T. Gleason, Tolna, N. Dak. 58380 Filed: May 14, 1971App]. No.: 143,359

U.S. Cl. 56/344, 56/350 Int. Cl A0ld 89/00 Field of Search 56/341, 343,344-360;

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 8/1900 Southwick 100/187 10/1909-Fryman I 1/1917 Weaner 56/345 x Aug. 14, 1973 3,556,327 1/1971 Garrison214/522 1,936,603 11/1933 Larson 56/345 3,625,140 12/1971 Glanz 100/2202,660,949 12/1953 Russell 100/187 Primary ExaminerRusse1l R. KinseyAssistant Examiner-J. N. Eskovitz Attorney-Bugger, Peterson, Johnson &Westman [5 7] ABSTRACT A haystack making machine utilizing a hay pickupand an elevating conveyor, a haystack forming compartment, and linearmovable compression packing means for packing the hay; all mounted on aframe. After a haystack has been formed means are provided for removingthe haystack from the hay forming compartment.

17 Claims, 11 Drawing Figures Patented Aug. 14, 1973 5 Sheets-Sheet 4 WmQ INVENTORS SAVE P574 ll- QUlQbEiCK HQROLD 7: 6451950 BY ArraavarsPatented Aug. 14, 1973 3,751,892

5 Sheets-Sheet 5 FIE! 2.2

l N VEN TORS SHERMJA/ ll. 000N850? Y #019040 7. 646430 Arron/Er;

IIAYSTACK MAKING MACHINE BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of theInvention The present invention relates to haystack forming machinesthat will form stacks from hay picked up from windrows of loose hay.

2. Prior Art Various types of haystack forming machines have beenadvanced in the art. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 3,1 l0, 1 48 issued toMader et al., illustrates a device for picking up loose hay, formingitinto a hay cock or small stack as the device moves down the field.Noprovision is made in this device for compacting the hay, and the stacksmade are quite small.

In addition, a device for picking up shocks of grain and the like asshown in US. Pat. No. 1,780,299, and this device has discharge means forremoving the grain from a form or container.

In addition, US. Pat. No. 3,556,327 issued to Garrison shows a loose haywagon which has a compressor that operates in a vertically reciprocatingdirection, and utilizes a blower for blowing the hay into the wagonitself. Means are provided for compacting, and also for discharging thecompacted stack after it has been formed.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a stackforming machine for hay, straw or thelike which comprises a frame havingpick up means, and a stack forming rack or body. The rack or body holdsmaterialthat is received from the pick up means and the material isintermittently compressed in a selected direction. This forms verticallyextending compacted slices or layers of material in the body. After thebody is filled with firmly packed material the body is rotated so thatthe layers of material and the separation planes between layers whichare formed to be disposed vertically now are resting horizontally. Thestack is then removed from the body in this position so that the stacksheds water, and the layers rest one on top of the other.

In particular, the device is operated by filling the body or'stack forminitially with loose hay to a desired level, and compacting it with aplunger that moves in a horizontal direction. The plunger is retractedand the body is refilled. A plurality of compacted slices of compressedhay with the separation planes between the slices extending in verticaldirection are formed. As shown, when the body is rotated the rear wallduring forming of the stack rests against the ground. The first formedlayer of hay then becomes the base layer for the stack. The stack isthen removed in any suitable manner from the wagon and the layers of hay(or straw or the like). are disposed horizontally. The plunger forcompacting the stack is rounded to form a round top on' the stack.

Suitable retaining holding mean-s can be utilized on the sides of thehaystack forming compartment, and in the floor of the compartment tokeep the individual layers compressed against the rear wall when thepacker, which is operated hydraulically, is retracted.

The vertical conveyor for lifting loose material into the stack formingcompartment of the present invention comprises a unique one piece chainstructure operating through a chute, and which has automaticallyadjustable linkage for compensating for movement of the pick up deviceover uneven ground.

The packer device is mounted and operated with hydraulic cylinders, andall of the drives necessary are operated with hydraulic motors. Thus, anall hydraulic powered haystack forming machine is presented.

Because of the unique unloading motion, namely the rotation of theentire body to orient the layers of hay properly when unloaded, areciprocating compacter operable in a generally horizontal direction isusable. This minimizes the number of working parts in the device andmakes it simplier to build.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a side elevational view of ahaystack forming device made according to the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a top plan view of the device in FIG. 1 with parts broken awayfor sake of clarity;

FIG. 3 is a side elevational view of the device of FIG. 1 showing it ina dumping ppsition;

FIG. 4 is a rear elevational view of the device in FIG.

FIG. 5 is a fragmentary sectional view showing a compensating linkageused with the conveyor and pick up of the present invention;

FIG. 6 is a sectional view taken substantially on line 6--6 of FIG. 2;

FIG. 7 is a sectional view taken as on line 7-7 in FIG. 6;

FIG. 8 is a side view of the upper portion of the vertical hay conveyorof the present invention;

FIG. 9 is an enlarged side sectional view of a hay retainer mechanismused with the present invention; and

FIGS. 10 and 11 are views showing a modified hay retainer used with thedevice of the present invention.

DESCRIPTIONOF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT The haystack forming machineillustrated generally at 10 comprises a main frame 11 made up oflongitudinally extending members 12,12 held together with suitable crossmembers shown only in dotted lines. The frame 11 is mounted on an axle13 having wheels 14 mounted thereon for rotation to support the haystackforming. machine. The spaced apart frame members 12,12 converge at theirforward portions to form a support for a hitch tongue 15 that attachesto a tractor 16 through the conventional hitch 17 of the tractor. Thedevice thus is a towed vehicle that may be pulled along the groundsurface 18.

The haystack forming machine frame 11 supports a subframe assemblyillustrated generally at 21, which in turn supports a hay or stack formcompartment illustrated generally at 22. The hay compartment 22 has sidewalls 23,23 a bottom wall 24, and also has a slatted rear wallillustrated generally at 25, and a movable front wall assembly 26. Thebottom 24 is supported in a suitable manner on a pair of longitudinallyextending frame members 27,27 of subframe 21 that extend in fore and aftdirection, and a number of cross member supports are mounted on theseframe members 27 as desired to form subframe 21. The subframe assemblybers on the main frame assembly 11, and include extendable andretractable rods 35 that are pivotally mounted as at 36 to brackets 37also attached to the subframe assembly. The hydraulic cylinders 33 arecontrolled through a suitable valve, which is mounted in a valve cluster38 at the forward portions of the machine. The valve cluster 38 ismounted onto a support 39. Fluid under pressure may be supplied from asuitable hydraulic pressure source, for example a pump driven by thetractor P.T.O. for powering the components. The cylinders 33 can beextended and retracted to control the movement of the subframe assembly21 and the body member 22 about the pivot 32, from the position as shownin FIG. 1 where it is in loading position to the position shown in FIG.3 where it is in its dumping position.

The side walls 23 of the hay compartment are supported with uprightsupport members 42 connected to the outer member 21A of subframe 21 andthese upright members 42 are spaced at intervals along the sides 23 ofthe hay compartment 22.

The movable front or forward wall 26 comprises a ram or plunger forcompressing hay in the hay compartment 22, and this plunger is supportedon a pair of transversely spaced carriages 43 that move along the framemembers 27. The carriages 43 comprise horizontal support members 44, andvery sturdy upright support members 45. The upright support members 45are welded to the horizontal members 44, and the upright members arejoined together with upper and lower members 46 which have channelshaped cross sections and which extend transversely to the haycompartment. Two pairs of intermediate transverse channel members 48Aand 48B and 49A and 498, respectively, are fixed to members 45 as well.The channels 46, 48A and B, and 49A and B are formed to an arcuate shapeas shown in FIG. 2. Vertically extending rods or other suitable hayretaining members 50 are fastened between lower member 46 and channel49B, between the channels 49A and 48B, and between channel 48A and uppermember 46. This leaves two vertically spaced unobstructed slots orspaces 142 through front wall 26 on opposite sides thereof. The slots orspaces 142 extend laterally from each of the upright members 45 and opento the corresponding side edges of front wall 26 for a purpose to beexplained. The front wall 26 is welded together to form a rigid memberand give adequate support between the support members 44 and the uprightmembers 45.

The horizontal members 44, comprising the base parts of the carriages 43(the entire front wall 26 of the hay compartment moves with thesemembers) are mounted for slidable movement with respect to thelongitudinally extending main subframe supports 27,27 respectively. Asshown, these longitudinally extending supports 27 (see FIG. 7) areformed with two facing channel members 51 and 52, respectively, whichare fastened together with suitable braces 53, and at the upper portionsfonn a space 54. The horizontal members 44 have an actuator portion 65that extends through the space 54. The members 44 have support rollersthereon which engage the upper legs 55 and 56, respectively, of thechannels 51 and 52. There is a first set of rollers 60 at the inner end(spaced from the front wall) of the carriages. The first set of rollers60 includes top and bottom rollers which are rotatably mounted on thehorizontal members 44. Rear rollers 61 are rotatably mounted on thehorizontal members 44 and ride on top of the channel legs 54 and 55. Therollers 60 and 61 guide and support the carriages 43 as the front wall26 is moved to compress hay. The actuating devices for the movable frontwall or plunger 26 are also mounted between the channels 51 and 52 ofeach of these longitudinally extending subframe members 27. As shown, aseparate hydraulic cylinder 62 is attached as at 63 to each of therespective frame members 27. The cylinders 62 are double actinghydraulic cylinders with power actuated rods 64 connected to theactuator portions 65 of their respective carriage 43.

Upon extension or retraction of the cylinders 62 by operation of asuitable valve included with the valve cluster 38, the cylinder rods 64will extend simultaneously and both carriages 43 will be movedrearwardly along the frame members 27. The entire front wall 26 is movedrearwardly, as it is guided by the frame members 27 and the carriages43.

The cross members 46, 48A, 48B, 49A and 49B and the upright members 45are sufficiently strong to withstand this movement and consequentcompaction of hay in the hay compartment.

On the top of the movable front wall or plunger 26, there is a beatermounted that slowly rotates and helps to receive hay and feed it intothe compartment 22. The beater assembly is shown generally at 70, andcomprises upright supports 71 fixed to the top cross member 46 of themovable wall 26. A cross shaft 72 is rotatably mounted in bearings onthe supports, and this shaft 72 has a plurality of axially spaced apartlong fingers 73 attached thereto extending radially outwardly on oneside of the shaft only. The fingers 73 are of size to engage hay comingfrom a vertical conveyor assembly 75 and to move the hay rearwardly. Thebeater shaft 72 is direct drive coupled to the output shaft of ahydraulic motor 74 that is of conventional design and rotates at a veryslow rpm (for example 20 rpm) in direction indicated by arrow A. Thebeater 70 helps move the hay into the hay compartment without anywrapping of the hay around the fingers 73 or the shaft 72.

The conveyor assembly 75 is constructed to comprise both a vertical orupright conveyor for hay, and the hay pick up means. This conveyorassembly comprises a chute member 76 which has a rectangular crosssection, and has peripheral walls with open top and bottom ends. Thischute 76 is fixed with brackets 77 to the main frame members 12, andextends between the frame members. At its upper end it has a curvedportion 78, and suitable braces 79 are used between the upper portionsof the chute and the main frame members 12 for further support. Thedischarge opening is illustrated generally at 79 and opens to the rearadjacent to fingers 73. In addition, a stripper assembly 80 is providedat the rear of the opening 79, to insure that hay will be stripped fromspring fingers 81 of an endless chain assembly 82 that is mounted formoving the hay. The endless chain assembly 82 comprises three spacedapart chains 83 of usual design having attachment links and crossmembers 84 connected to the chains. The spring teeth 81 are attached tothe cross members 84 in a known manner.

The endless chains are mounted over sprockets which are drivablyattached to a shaft 85 at the top end of the chute 76, and then thechain assembly has one reach or portion which extends downwardly betweenthe supports 79,.and around a movably mounted roller 86 (see FIG. 5),over another rotatably mounted guide roller 87, and then over a pick updrum 88. The forward chain reach or portion passes into the lower end ofchute 76 at a lower opening 89, and is guided against the rear wall 90of this chute member. The teeth 81 carried by the cross members 84protrude forwardly from the rear wall 90, and of course clear the frontwall of the chute member 76. The unit is made so that the pick up drum88 can float across uneven ground, and the continuous single conveyorchain assembly 82 will not become slack. In order to do this, acompensation linkage is provided. As shown, the roller 86 is rotatablymounted to a pair of arms 92, that in turn are pivotally mounted as at93 to brackets 94 on opposite sides of the machine. In addition, thepick up drum 80, which is a large tube mounted with suitable supportmembers on a center shaft 95, is rotatably mounted between support arms96 that are pivotally mounted as at 97 to the main frame members 12. Thedrum 88 can pivot about the pivots 97. A link 98 is pivotally attachedas at 99 to each of the arms 96 between the pivots 97 and the shaft 95,and also the links 98 are pivotally mounted as at 100 to the respectivearms 92 between the axis of drum 86 and the pivots 93.

Support shoes 104 are provided for engaging the ground, and these aremounted on supports 105 that are fixed to the respective arms 96 for thepick up drum. It shouldbe noted that the roller 87 is rotatably mountedbetween brackets on the arms 96 for guiding the chain assembly. Thus, ifthe pick up drum 88 moves upwardly, as indicated by the arrow 106, thearm 96 will pivot about pivots 97, and links 98 will bear against thearms 92 to move the roller 86 rearwardly a sufficient amount tocompensate for the change in position of the drum 88 and keep the chainassembly 82 tight.

The shaft 85 is used as a power shaft for the endless chain and isdriven with a hydraulic motor 107 driven with fluid under pressure andcontrolled by a suitable valve. Power is again supplied by a suitablehydraulic system powered by the tractor used for towing. The speed ofthe motor 107 of course can be set at the desired level in order todrive the chain assembly at the desired speed. Fingers 81, which arespaced laterally on the cross bars 84, move around the drum 88 when thehydraulic motor 107 is driving, and come close to the ground surface sothat theywill pick up a windrow of loose hay. The teeth 81 will carrythe hay up through the chute 76, andout the top opening 79. The stripperassembly 80 at the top removes the hay and guides it outwardly from thechute, and then the fingers 73 will engage the hay and move itdownwardly into the body. The fingers 81 pass between thestrippermembers.

A fragmentary detailed side view of the stripper assembly is shown inFIG. 8. Flat strip members 110, are used and they have a substantiallyhorizontal section extending outwardly from the conveyor, and endportions lll depend downwardly. The stripper assembly 80 comprises anumber of these spaced apart flat members 110 having flat portionsadjacent the conveyor discharge opening. The strips 110 are supported ona suitable cross member 112 that is spaced far enough out from theconveyor so that the teeth 81 do not strike the member 112. The crossmember 112 is attached to the 1 conveyor 75 with end brackets.

The rear wall 25 of the hay compartment 22 is made in a unique manner toaccomplish the purposes of the invention. As shown in FIG. 4, the rearwall is made up of a plurality of upwarding extending spaced apart teethmembers 115 that are mounted onto a suitable cross frame member 116.These teeth 115 are fixed in position, and extend upwardly the fullheight of the hay compartment 22. The teeth 115 are similar to sweeprake teeth. Thus the hay compartment 22 has a slatted back, but theteeth 115 are sufficiently close together so that the hay, when it ispushed against these teeth, will be retained in the hay compartment andwill not be forced outwardly.

At the base of the teeth 115, when the hay compartment is in itsposition as shown in FIG. 4 there is a hay push off assembly 117. Thispush off assembly includes a frame work that has a pair of spaced aparttransversely extending members 118 and 119 respectively, and a thirdtransversely extending member 120 to form a triangle held together withsuitable frame members 121. The members 118 and 119 are transverselyextending members that rest against the inner surfaces of the teeth 115,and they are slidably guided on two of the teeth with suitable slidingbracket means 122 and 123 which merely comprise U shaped straps fittingover the teeth so that the entire push off assembly 117 will slide alongthe teeth. In addition, a pair of actuator elements 125 are fixed to thehay push off assembly 117, and the actuators 125 extend outwardly(rearwardly) beyond the teeth 115 so that when the hay compartment 22 ismoved into its unloading position as shown in FIG. 3, these actuatorelements 125 will be forced into the ground. Because the push offassembly is slidably mounted on the teeth 115, the push off will moverelative to the teeth 115 under external forces. With the actuatorelements 125 in the ground, and the push off adjacent the floor of thehay compartment, movement of the entire hay compartment forwardly willcause teeth 115 to slide with respect to the push off assembly 117,which is stationary. The push off assembly also holds the formedhaystack relative to the ground so that as the hay compartment movesforwardly the hay compartment is slid off the formed stack.

Thus the device is made so that it may be pulled down a field by atractor, with the tractor straddling the windrow of hay or other foragematerial which may be stacked, and with the hydraulic motor 107 powered,so that the conveyor chain assembly is operating, the teeth 81 will pickup the hay, carry it up through the chute 76 and will deposit it intothe open top hay compartment between the side walls 23,23 and inside thefront wall 26. The front wall 26 will be in its full forward position asshown in FIG. 2 during initial loading of hay.

After the hay compartment 22 has been filled sufficiently so that thereis a substantial amount of loose hay in the box or body, the packer isactuated by operating the cylinders 62 to extend the rods 64 pushing thecarriages 43 rearwardly and thereby' carrying the front wall 26rearwardly to its dotted line position wherein it packs the hay againstthe rear wall 25.

In order to retain the hay in its packed position so that there is anopen area into which additional loose hay can be dumped subsequently,there are hay retainer assemblies indicated generally at on oppositesides of the hay compartment. The retainer assemblies each compriseupper and lower folding arm assemblies that are mounted on shafts 131which are rotatably mounted on suitable supports on the side walls23,23. The upper and lower arm assemblies each comprise a first arm 132drivably or fixedly mounted on shaft 131, and a second arm 133 that ispivotally mounted to the outer end of the first arm 132 and whichextends into the hay compartment through guide members 134 in the sidewalls 23. The openings for the arms 133 in the guide members 134 areelongated slots so that the arms 133 can cock or tilt in fore and aftdirections as they move in and out. The shafts 131 can be simultaneouslyactuated through mechanical or hydraulic actuators. With mechanicalactuators the movement of the retainer assemblies could be from linkagesactuated by the movement of the front wall or plunger 26. When hydraulicactuators are used, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, a pair of hydrauliccylinders 135 are fastened to side walls 23 and operated fluidly inparallel to actuate the respective shafts 131 and the arms attachedthereto. The cylinders 135 act on lugs 136 attached to the shafts 131.Upon extension of the cylinders 135 in the usual manner (they are doubleacting hydraulic cylinders) the hay retainer arms 133 will be moved intothe hay compartment to position as shown in solid lines in FIG. 2. Thearms 133 are normally retracted for initial filling of the haycompartment. After the front wall or plunger 26 has been actuated toposition as shown in dotted lines in FIG. 2, the arms 133 will be movedinto the hay compartment and will remain in their inserted position asshown in solid lines. The forward wall 26 is then retracted withcylinders 62. The arms 132 will pass through slots 142 formed betweenthe spaced apart members 48A and B and 49A and B when the front wall isretracted. Then, the hay that has been compressed will be held by theretainer arms 133 in the rear part of the hay compartment, andadditional loose hay can be dropped into the forward portions of the haycompartment, forwardly of the arms 133. When the hay compartment isagain full the arms 133 are retracted from the compartment by actuatingthe cylinders 135 and moving the arms 133 to their withdrawn position asshown in dotted lines in FIG. 2 so that the front wall 26 can be movedtoward the rear of the hay compartment. The hay in the hay compartmentis then again compacted back against the rear wall 25. Arms 133 arereinserted to their solid line position each time after the front wall26 is moved rearwardly and are held in their inserted position while thehay compartment is again filled. The arms 133 are withdrawn again beforethe front wall 26 is again moved rearwardly.

In addition to the retainer arms, there are a pair of spring loaded hayretainer fingers which act in the bottom of the hay compartment. Thefingers 146 are pivotally mounted as at 147 (see FIG. 9) to the framemembers 27 on suitable pivot studs. The fingers 146 are each springloaded with a spring 148 so that normally they protrude through openingsin the hay compartment floor. When the front wall or plunger 26 is movedto compact the hay the fingers 146 will fold to their dotted lineposition, then when the front wall 26 is retracted, the fingers willspring erect and hold the compressed hay from moving forwardly with thefront wall 26.

After the hay has been compacted and the compartment refilled asdescribed several times, for example 4 to 6 times, there will be anumber of layers of hay compacted together and formed partially roundfrom the configuration of the front wall 26. These slices or slabs ofcompacted hay resemble slices of a loaf of bread, with separation planesextending vertically. In order to store this type ofa compactedhaystack, without having the slices of hay separate and also to insurethat rain will be shed to a reasonable degree, the device of the presentinvention includes means to rotate the stack substantially as shown forunloading so that the separation planes between the different slices orslabs of hay will be substantially horizontal when the stack is stored.The slices will rest on top of one another for stability. The partlycurved end of the stack formed by the curvature of the forward wall 26will then be on top of the stack and will be arcuately shaped to helpshed rain. The mobil unit is moved to the position where the haystack isto be stored, after the compacted stack is of the desired size, and thecylinders 33 are actuated to rotate the subframe assembly and the haycompartment now filled with hay substantially 90 until the rear wallteeth rest upon the ground as shown in FIG. 3. At the same time, theactuators for the hay push off will be forced into the ground by theweight of the hay and the power of the cylinders 33. The front wall orplunger 26 is normally compressed against the hay to keep the hay undercompression against the rear wall of the hay compartment while thecompartment is being rotated to its dumping position. After the haycompartment is in its position as shown in FIG. 3, the front wall orplunger 26 is released and retracted to its forward position byactuating the cylinders 62 to thereby release the compression loadagainst the hay. The arms 133 are removed as well. The entire haycompartment is then pulled forwardly in the direction as indicated bythe arrow 141. As the unit is pulled forwardly the teeth 115 sliderelative to push off device 117. The push off device 117 remainsstationary as the teeth move forwardly to insure that the stack will notgo with the hay compartment. The teeth 115 and the compartment itselfare withdrawn from the stack leaving the stack in position. This stackis shown at 143 after it has been removed from the hay compartment 22,and after it has expanded upwardly following removal of the compressionload from front wall 26. When the front wall or plunger 26 is initiallyretracted from its compressing position against the haystack, theresilience of the haystack is not as great as that shown forillustrative purposes in FIG. 3, but after the haystack has beenreleased from the compression force, the stack will start to springupwardly and assume its normal size. The rounded top formed by the wall26 will shed rain, and the separation planes between hay layers, whichare shown schematically at 144 are now horizontal so that rain cannotrun down in between the hay layers. The stack will not now tend to fallapart as it would if it were merely laid on its side with the separationplanes 144 extending vertically.

Once the stack is completely removed from the hay compartment 22,. thecylinders 33 will again be retracted pulling the subframe back down toits normal position, and the hay compartment is again positionedadjacent vertical chute 76 so that it can again receive hay coming fromthe chute. The unit will be pulled over the ground picking up hay andforming another stack. The hay push off member 117 will slide down theteeth 115 to its original position when the hay compartment is returnedto its working position because the teeth 115 will again extendvertically.

In FIGS. 10 and 11 a variation of the hay retaining arms 133 is shownschematically.

As shown, on each side of the hay compartment there is an upright shaft155 mounted on bearings 156, which are spaced apart and mounted on theside walls 23. The shafts each mount a hay retaining arm assembly 157.The arm assemblies each include a rearwardly extending portion 158,which is fixed to the respective shaft 155 and a curved transverselyextending portion 159. The curved portions extend through slots 1.60 inthe walls 23 into the interior of the hay compartment.

The arm assemblies 157 are spring loaded toward their solid linepositions shown in FIG. 10. A load arm 161 is fixed to each shaft, and aspring 162 is attached between each arm 16 1 and the respective wall 23to urge the arm assemblies 157 to their solid line position.

When hay has been dropped into the hay comparti ment, and the movablefront wall or plunger 26 is actuated rearwardly to compress the hay, thecurvature of the transversely extending arm portions 159 will cause thearm portion 159 to be pushed outwardly. The slope of the arm portion 159is selected to cause the outward movement. As the arms move, the shafts155 pivot thereby tensioning springs 162. When the front wall 26 hasmoved past the ends of arm portions 159, (to position as shown in dottedlines) the arm portions will be snapped back to their solid lineposition of FIG. by

'springs 162. When the front wall or plunger 26 is retracted, the armportion 159 will pass through the slots 142 as do arms 133, and willthus be in position to retain the packed hay in the rear portions of thehay compartment. Y

The hay compartment would be filled and compacted as described before,and when the compartment is filled, the completed haystack would beunloaded as previously explained.

Thus a single endless conveyor assembly vhaving spring teeth members isutilized both for a hay pick up conveyor, intermittent compression ofthe hay by hydraulic ram means is provided, and the separation planesbetween compressed layers of hay are positioned horizontally in thefinished stack by rotating the subframe and haystack 90 after forming.The movement of the compressive plunger horizontally eliminates a greatdeal of frame work necessary when the hay, is compressed in verticaldirection.

The stop members 140 for the push off 117 serve to keep the push off inplace without interfering with removal of the hay stack. While hay hasbeen used as an example in discussing the preferred embodiment, anyloose material to be stacked and which can be picked up from a windrowon the ground can be stacked with the present device.

The plunger or ram used could travel horizontally sideways, of course,and the pivoting of the hay compartment would then be done to insurethat the planes of the layers are generally horizontal when the stack isdeposited on the ground.

The hydraulic components shown use standard control valves well known inthe art, and the hydraulic power source may be driven from the tractorP.T.O.

A pivoting finger assembly 150 is placed adjacent the bottom opening ofthe chute 76 to deflect the hay in the hay windrow downwardly to insurethat the hay will not catch and drag on the chute as the unit is movedalong.

The term substantially horizontal is meant-to include the positioning ofthe wall of the receptacle spaced from the ground during unloading andalso a situation wherein the wall actually inclines downwardly (orupwardly) for unloading. The layers of hay are generally horizontallyoriented in the stack when the stack has been removed and deviationsfrom exactly horizontal are acceptable. The layers should be oriented sothe stack sheds rain and water doesnt easily run between the layers.

The stackable material could also be material to be stored in a stack,such as brush and tree branches, or even paper or garbage.

What is claimed is:

1. A machine for forming a stack of stackable material comprising aframe member, a receptacle having generally upright walls mounted onsaid frame member, means to deliver stackable material into saidreceptacle, compression means operating in a substantially horizontaldirection compressing layers of said stackable material with respect toa first wall of said receptacle, means to rotate said receptacle tounloading position with said first wall of said receptacle adjacent tothe ground to position the layers substantially horizontally prior toremoval of said material from said receptacle, said first wall of saidreceptacle comprising a plurality of substantially parallel teethmembers, and push off means slidably mounted on said teeth members tomove hay in the receptacle toward the outer ends of said teeth memberswhen said receptacle has been rotated to unloading position and there isrelative movement between the teeth members and said push off means.

2.-The combination as specified in claim 1 wherein said frame comprisesa main frame, a subframe, and wherein said receptacle is mounted on saidsubframe, and means to pivotally mount said subframe to said main frameabout a substantially horizontal axis to permit movement of saidsubframe relative to said main frame for substantially of pivoting.

3. The combination as specified in claim 1 wherein said means fordelivering said stackable material into said receptacle comprises a pickup and vertical conveyor assembly, said assembly comprising a singleendless conveyor member having elongated teeth extending outwardlytherefrom, a conveyor chute, one portion of said ehdless conveyor memberpassing along said chute, and guide means to guide said conveyor memberto position adjacent the ground in its path of travel wherein said teethwill pick up stackable material on the ground and move said materialupwardly along said chute, an opposite portion of said conveyor memberbeing external said chute.

4. The combination as specified in claim 3 wherein said guide means toguide said conveyor member for movement adjacent the ground comprises adrum, support means for said drum pivotally mounted to said main frameto permit floating movement of said drum with respect to the ground, andlinkage means comprising a tightener roller movable upon floatingmovement of said drum to control tension in said endless conveyormember.

5. The combination as specified in claim 4 wherein said endless conveyormember comprises a plurality of spaced conveyor chains each formed intoa closed loop, and cross members extending between said spaced chains,said teeth members being attached to and projecting from said crossmembers.

6. The combination as specified in claim 3 wherein said chute is atubular chute having open ends and said endless conveyor member ridesagainst the interior surface of one wall of said chute with said teethprojecting toward an oppositely facing wall of said chute.

7. A machine for forming a stack of stackable material comprising aframe member, a receptacle having generally upright walls includingfirst and second walls mounted on said frame member, means to deliverstackable material into said receptacle, carriage means for movablysupporting said second wall, track means for said carriage means, saidtrack means being supported on said frame, roller guide means on saidcarriage means for retaining said second wall in its desired positionduring movement thereof, said second wall being in substantiallyhorizontal direction and comprising compression means to compress layersof said stackable material against a first wall of said receptacle,means to rotate said receptacle to unloading position with said wall ofsaid receptacle adjacent to the ground to position the layerssubstantially horizontally prior to removal of said material from saidreceptacle.

8. The combination as specified in claim 7 and means to move said secondwall toward said first wall comprising fluid actuated cylinder means,said cylinder means acting against said carriage means.

9. The combination as specified in claim 7 wherein said first wallcomprises the rear wall of the hay compartment with respect to thenormal direction of travel.

10. The combination as specified in claim 8 wherein said track means forsaid second wall comprises a pair of longitudinally extending members,each of said longitudinally extending members comprising facing channelmembers fixed together, means mounting said cylinder means inside saidfacing channel members, and arm means extending from said carriage meansthrough a provided opening between said facing channel members, andmeans connecting said arm means to said cylinder means.

11. In a loose material gathering vehicle having means for receivingsaid loose material the improvement comprising a pick up and conveyorassembly, said assembly comprising a single endless conveyor memberhaving elongated teeth extending outwardly therefrom, a conveyor chute,one portion of said endless conveyor member passing along said chute,guide means to guide said conveyor member to position adjacent theground in its path of travel wherein said teeth will pick up material onthe ground and move said material upwardly along said chute, an oppositeportion of said conveyor member being external said chute and said guidemeans to guide said conveyor member for movement adjacent the groundcomprising a drum, support means for said drum pivotally mounted to saidmain frame to permit floating movement of said drum with respect to theground, and linkage means comprising a tightener roller movable uponfloating movement of said drum to control tension in said endlessconveyor member.

12. The vehicle of claim 11 wherein said chute is a tubular chute havingopen ends and said endless conveyor member rides against the interiorsurface of one wall of said chute with said teeth projecting toward anoppositely facing wall of said chute.

13. A stack forming machine comprising a frame, a compartment mounted onsaid frame, said compartment comprising a floor and upstanding sidewalls and a pair of longitudinally extending frame members, eachlongitudinally extending frame member comprising a pair of channelshaped members having their legs facing each other and spaced apartalong the tops thereof, means to deliver stackable material into saidcompartment, and compressive packing means to compact material depositedin said compartment, said compressive packing means including a firstwall of said compartment, carriage means mounted to said first wall andmovably mounted on said longitudinally extending frame members, saidwall being movable toward a sec ond opposite wall of said compartment,power means mounted between said channel shaped members and connected tosaid carriage means, said power means being operable to said first walltoward said second wall to compress material deposited between saidfirst and second walls.

14. The machine of claim 13 further characterized in that said powermeans moves said first wall under power away from said second walltoward a normal position, and material retaining means to engagematerial compressed against said second wall and prevent said compressedmaterial from moving with said first wall when the first wall is movedto its normal position.

15. The machine of claim 13 wherein said compartment includes asubframe, means to pivotally mount said subframe to said frame to permitpivotal movement of said compartment to unloading position wherein oneof said walls is adjacent the ground, and power means to move saidcompartment about its pivot.

16. The machine of claim 15 and push off means to remove material fromthe compartment when the compartment has been pivoted to unloadingposition.

17. The machine of claim 13 wherein said first wall is formed into apartly curved configuration to form a curved side on said stack.

UNKTED STATES PATENT OFFICE CER'NNCATE OF CORRECTION Patent No.3,7511892 D d August 14, 1973 Inventor(s) Sherman Quanbeck et al.

It is certified that error appears in the above-identified patent andthat said Letters Patent are hereby corrected as shown below:

Y. Column 10, line 25 (Claim 1, line 15) "hay" should 1 be cancelled andinsert--stackable material--. Column 11,

line 13,: (Claim 7 line ll) after "being" insert--movable--; Column 711, line 13, (Claim 7 line 15) before "wall" insert --first--. Column12, line 28, (Claim 13, line 18), after "to" insert move si ma andsealed this 25th day of December 1973.

(SEAL) Attest:

EDWARD M.FLETCHERQJR.- RENE D. TEGTMEYER Acting Commissioner of PatentsAttesting Officer

1. A machine for forming a stack of stackable material comprising aframe member, a receptacle having generally upright walls mounted onsaid frame member, means to deliver stackable material into saidreceptacle, compression means operating in a substantially horizontaldirection compressing layers of said stackable material with respect toa first wall of said receptacle, means to rotate said receptacle tounloading position with said first wall of said receptacle adjacent tothe ground to position the layers substantially horizontally prior toremoval of said material from said receptacle, said first wall of saidreceptacle comprising a plurality of substantially parallel teethmembers, and push off means slidably mounted on said teeth members tomove hay in the receptacle toward the outer ends of said teeth memberswhen said receptacle has been rotated to unloading position and there isrelative movement between the teeth members and said push off means. 2.The combination as specified in claim 1 wherein said frame comprises amain frame, a subframe, and wherein said receptacle is mounted on saidsubframe, and means to pivotally mount said subframe to said main frameabout a substantially horizontal axis to permit movement of saidsubframe relative to said main frame for substantially 90* of pivoting.3. The combination as specified in claim 1 wherein said means fordelivering said stackable material into said receptacle comprises a pickup and vertical conveyor assembly, said assembly comprising a singleendless conveyor member having elongated teeth extending outwardlytherefrom, a conveyor chute, one portion of said endless conveyor memberpassing along said chute, and guide means to guide said conveyor memberto position adjacent the ground in its path of travel wherein said teethwill pick up stackable material on the ground and move said materialupwardly along said chute, an opposite portion of said conveyor memberbeing external said chute.
 4. The combination as specified in claim 3wherein said guide means to guide said conveyor member for movementadjacent the ground comprises a drum, support means for said drumpivotally mounted to said main frame to permit floating movement of saiddrum with respect to the ground, and linkage means comprising atightener roller movable upon floating movement of said drum to controltension in said endless conveyor member.
 5. The combination as specifiedin claim 4 wherein said endless conveyor member comprises a plurality ofspaced conveyor chains each formed into a closed loop, and cross membersextending between said spaced chains, said teeth members being attachedto and projecting from said cross members.
 6. The combination asspecified in claim 3 wherein said chute is a tubular chute having openends and said endless conveyor member rides against the interior surfaceof one wall of said chute with said teeth projecting toward anoppositely facing wall of said chute.
 7. A machine for forming a stackof stackable material comprising a frame member, a receptacle havinggenerally upright walls including first and second walls mounted on saidframe member, means to deliver stackable material into said receptacle,carriage means for movably supporting said second wall, track means forsaid carriage means, said track means being supported on said frame,roller guide means on said carriage means for retaining said second wallin its desired position during movement thereof, said second wall beingin substantially horizontal direction and comprising compression meansto compress layers of said stackable materIal against a first wall ofsaid receptacle, means to rotate said receptacle to unloading positionwith said wall of said receptacle adjacent to the ground to position thelayers substantially horizontally prior to removal of said material fromsaid receptacle.
 8. The combination as specified in claim 7 and means tomove said second wall toward said first wall comprising fluid actuatedcylinder means, said cylinder means acting against said carriage means.9. The combination as specified in claim 7 wherein said first wallcomprises the rear wall of the hay compartment with respect to thenormal direction of travel.
 10. The combination as specified in claim 8wherein said track means for said second wall comprises a pair oflongitudinally extending members, each of said longitudinally extendingmembers comprising facing channel members fixed together, means mountingsaid cylinder means inside said facing channel members, and arm meansextending from said carriage means through a provided opening betweensaid facing channel members, and means connecting said arm means to saidcylinder means.
 11. In a loose material gathering vehicle having meansfor receiving said loose material the improvement comprising a pick upand conveyor assembly, said assembly comprising a single endlessconveyor member having elongated teeth extending outwardly therefrom, aconveyor chute, one portion of said endless conveyor member passingalong said chute, guide means to guide said conveyor member to positionadjacent the ground in its path of travel wherein said teeth will pickup material on the ground and move said material upwardly along saidchute, an opposite portion of said conveyor member being external saidchute and said guide means to guide said conveyor member for movementadjacent the ground comprising a drum, support means for said drumpivotally mounted to said main frame to permit floating movement of saiddrum with respect to the ground, and linkage means comprising atightener roller movable upon floating movement of said drum to controltension in said endless conveyor member.
 12. The vehicle of claim 11wherein said chute is a tubular chute having open ends and said endlessconveyor member rides against the interior surface of one wall of saidchute with said teeth projecting toward an oppositely facing wall ofsaid chute.
 13. A stack forming machine comprising a frame, acompartment mounted on said frame, said compartment comprising a floorand upstanding side walls and a pair of longitudinally extending framemembers, each longitudinally extending frame member comprising a pair ofchannel shaped members having their legs facing each other and spacedapart along the tops thereof, means to deliver stackable material intosaid compartment, and compressive packing means to compact materialdeposited in said compartment, said compressive packing means includinga first wall of said compartment, carriage means mounted to said firstwall and movably mounted on said longitudinally extending frame members,said wall being movable toward a second opposite wall of saidcompartment, power means mounted between said channel shaped members andconnected to said carriage means, said power means being operable tosaid first wall toward said second wall to compress material depositedbetween said first and second walls.
 14. The machine of claim 13 furthercharacterized in that said power means moves said first wall under poweraway from said second wall toward a normal position, and materialretaining means to engage material compressed against said second walland prevent said compressed material from moving with said first wallwhen the first wall is moved to its normal position.
 15. The machine ofclaim 13 wherein said compartment includes a subframe, means topivotally mount said subframe to said frame to permit pivotal movementof said compartment to unloading position wherein one of said walls isadjacent the ground, and power means to move said compartment about iTspivot.
 16. The machine of claim 15 and push off means to remove materialfrom the compartment when the compartment has been pivoted to unloadingposition.
 17. The machine of claim 13 wherein said first wall is formedinto a partly curved configuration to form a curved side on said stack.